Dance the night away

This Saturday we got our early decade groove on.

neon colors: check

ridiculous teal eyeshadow: check

out of control blush: check

curled hairsprayed bangs: check

Our good friend Mary Ellen threw the shin dig and it was so much fun!

No party is complete without some pigs in a blanket

so much amazing food, so little time.

Some DenSem girls gettin' their groove thang on.

Kelly and Dave showing off their cuteness

The lovely ladies taking a break for the seizure inducing strobe light :)

I think a little break from the ins and outs of seminary life was much needed for all of us!

Hopefully this means many more to come!

Refreshing

Denver is known for it's amazing sunshine.

I mean, 300 day out the year are dedicated to the glorious warmth and cheeriness the sun has to offer.

While it has drastically improved my mood, and my ability to wake up in the morning there are days when it can feel a bit forced.

It's difficult for me to allow myself to feel reflective, sad, or even relaxed on sunny days. There is this innate  Minnesotan need to be outside in the sun, doing something! Otherwise it would be a waste.

I'm sure that as time goes by I'll become more accustomed to the sun, and won't feel the need to be soaking up every ray or feel the regret if I don't.

Today is a rainy Denver day.

normally this would upset me. It's gloomy, it's dark, I have no motivation, I can't be productive... etc.

but today?

Today
 I. am. loving. it.

I have the peace of mind to just relax and stay inside.

There's no pressure to go out and make something out of the day for fear of wasting it.

Because in reality, no day is lost.

Everyday, regardless of how busy, peaceful, stressed, relaxed, or productive is a good day. 

And just one more day that I've been blessed to experience and share with others that are around me.

So, bring on the rain.

South Platte River Half Marathon!

Today was the day ladies and gents!

I have to say the 1/2 totally took me by surprise, it didn't really hit me until I was actually at like mile 5 that I was really running the half marathon!

The forecast had been calling for rain, wind, and general nastiness for days.

To say I was dreading it would be an understatement.

However, this morning a clear blue sky greeted me!

There was still a lot of wind, but nothing to absolutely horrible.

Dan came to cheer me on, and to keep Jon company while he was spectating.

And I can't forget my favorite fan :)

Thankfully I wasn't running it alone!

Alison (on the left... or I guess my right in the picture) is an awesome women who I have the pleasure of sharing my counseling classes with :)

Vanessa is one of Ali's friends and is HILARIOUS seriously loved meeting her!

representin' DenSem!

The show offs... just runnin' out of control

Moseying along.

I was so proud of myself for starting at my own pace and running my race.

However, it was at this point (mile 1.5) that my bladder was SCREAMING... I thought I could make it, but 12 more miles with an extremely full bladder? 

Not

Happenin'

So I found a random porta on the side of the trail, unfortunately another guy had the same idea and he took his own sweet time. Another girl and I timed him... he made me miss a solid 2 minutes of my race...

I on the other hand was in and out in 15 second... yes, I really am that fast.

Honestly, the race went by in  blur, before I knew it i was at mile 10 and I was feeling GOOD!

If you'll recall my Korea half it was mile 10 that my knee blew out and made running slightly more difficult.

Not this time.

I was truckin' along and feeling great!

I will say there was a killer hill at mile 12.25 for the next .5 miles, but I was able to catch Ali (who I hadn't seen since the first 5 minutes of the race) and we pumped each other up!

No walking here.

Before I knew it I could see the finish line and away I went!

Please ignore my heel striking the ground, but notice the smile on my face.

I was feeling AWESOME!!!

(and yes, I totally beat the girl in the blue... I have a bit of a competitive spirit)

After the race waiting for some food!

burgers and fondue

I was doing really well with the no dessert thing for lent.

but melting pot fondue?? I just ran 13.1 miles people!!! That and I've heard that some people don't even recognize sunday's for the lent sacrifice...

so there.

Overall, I finished 13.22 miles in 2:12:24 (according to my Garmin)

which puts me at 10:00 per mile!!! Right. on. target.

I also had negatives splits for the last 6 miles.

And I knocked about 2.5 minutes off of my previous half marathon time.

Although because of porta potty man something makes me think I could've finished at around 2:10.

I have NEVER felt this good after a long run, and I'm loving that.

Now it's time to get ready for the next one :)

I'm hoping for a sub 2:10!

Lent: Fasting and Feasting

This morning I was reading my good friend Laura's blog.

She had an AMAZING post about Lent that I had to repost.

and because I haven't taken any new pictures lately, and I'm totally lusting after Italy right now, I figured a few views of Cinque Tierre would be welcome.

Lent-

is a time for fasting

is a time for feasting

it is a time to fast from certain things

and feast on others.

Fast from judging others; feast on Christ indwelling in the them

Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life

Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light

Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God

Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude

Fast from anger; feast on patience

Fast from pessimism; feast on divine order

Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on increasing prayer

Fast from hostility; feast on nonresistance

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal Truth

Fast from discouragement; feast on hope

Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift

Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm

Fast from suspicion; feast on truth

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire

Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on sunlight of serenity

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Lent is coming to a close in a few weeks, and while I've given up  desserts and that has definitely been a sacrifice I love the thought of fasting in non- physical or behavioral ways.

I hope I can take these next few weeks and truly transform the way my mind is thinking and processing. 

I want to fast what is not of God and feast on the truths that He has given me.

Be Blessed!

Myth Busters

In regards to my running I've been forcing this half marathon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really pumped that I signed up for the half.

I've realized though that I've been putting waaaaaaay to much pressure on myself.

I've been believing some myths and not looking to the truth of the situation.



Myth: I should be able to run this half marathon as quickly as the last one.

Truth: I haven't ran regularly since last April/May. I truthfully can't expect to run this race as well when I haven't been running regularly for the last 9 months. The past 12 weeks have been great for training, but to not have any pre-training... well it's pretty foolish to think it's the same circumstance.


Myth: My lungs should be able to handle the elevation.

Truth: I went from running at sea level (literally the yellow sea was right next to me) to running at over a mile high. That's a serious shift and I need to give my lungs a bit of grace as they try to figure out how to get air.


Myth: I should be as fast as the other girls I've met

Truth: Most of the girls I know that are out here have been here... either their entire lives or for quite a few more months than I have. And most of them have been training and running regularly for a few years or more. Yes, I know. Ridiculous to even by comparing myself against them.


So, as I've been reviewing these truths in my mind as I run, I'm releasing myself from any expectations that I've been putting on the half marathon.

I won't be running for time.
I'm not putting pressure on myself to run the entire time.
It WILL be fun! (as racing should be )

Two more weeks to go!

Life lessons from Yoga: Force

Every Friday I head to the local Lululemon shop and take a free yoga class. It's called vino and vinyasa and yes, I go to get the wine at the end... it's free! Like I'm going to pass that up!

As you remember (or probably not) last year I wrote a little somethin' somethin' about the Yoga as part of the P90X program.

I haven't done much Yoga since then, except for the past few weeks at Lululemon. Every week there is a new instructor and it's always a bit of an experience. 

The first week was great.

Fast paced, but easy enough that I could keep up and feel like I knew what was going on.

The second week was iffy.

Fast paced, but she started out with some Hinduism talk and it wasn't vibin' with me. So I prayed the whole time :) It was also a little more intense we held this pose:

(source)

for a few minutes at a time.

for someone without balance...it was a bit on the tough side.

you also have to realize that all of our mats are maybe half and inch apart... usually overlapping.

and yes, I did accidentally kick someone while doing this pose.

i. rock.

The third time around was intense.

Holy fast paced, and crampage batman!!! I of course decided to weight lift that morning and go on a light run and then do yoga... not my smartest move.

And other than an altercation with a creepy guy (thank goodness I had two good guy friends with me that stood up for me) it was good.

A man was teaching this time and he was hilarious! But he was also insanely insightful. During a particularly hard pose and vinyasa flow he stressed that we didn't have to do it.

simple as that.

who are we there to impress?

if we want to take it easy... why the heck not?

He also emphasized that we should be pushing our selves with ease and not force. 

When we try to force things in life how often do we get the results we are looking for?

When we force relationships, people, situations in life we are usually so exhausted that we can't even contribute to society how we want too.

Now, obviously this applies to Yoga... but it also applies to absolutely everything else in life as well. Why do we feel the need to force our way through life ? How absolutely exhausted are we making ourselves by doing this?

Today during my run, I was strugglin'. For some reason breathing just hasn't been happening and it's beyond frustrating. I didn't want to walk, but the more I thought about it I realized I didn't want to walk because I was forcing my run, forcing my breath, and forcing this idea that "runners' can't walk.

I then realized how utterly ridiculous this was and began to walk and suddenly felt beyond light. I was able to run the last 1.5 miles home breathing easy. I also came to some truth and realization about the 1/2 marathon coming up (which I'll cover later after my 12 miler).

Although it's been hard, and challenged me in ways I never thought possible I am actually EXCITED for yoga every week. I love that it ends my week and makes me focus on my feelings, thoughts, and stressors of the week. It helps me to release.

And now it helps to reframe how I get through life. am i forcing my way through or allowing myself to flow through life with ease.

What are you forcing in your life? How are you pushing yourself too far? And where can you maybe push yourself with ease and allow things to happen organically??

Home-made Chicken Noodle Soup

A few weeks ago I found a burst of productivity and slammed out to massive meals in one fell swoop.

Why this productivity can't hit me all the time, I'll never know... but if it did I'm pretty sure I could solve world hunger...and peace.

Yes. I'm that productive.

It all started with the whole frozen chicken we got for free from Manna (an awesome program at a local church that provides us with free food! Score!)

I first decided to make a casserole (I'll be posting that later this week) and then I found that I had  A LOT of broth, and quite a bit of chicken left over.

Which meant...

chicken noodle soup.

What you need:

Whole Chicken

Water

Carrots (as many as you can handle)

Celery (same as above)

Onion (same as above)

butter (to saute celery and onions)

2-3 Eggs

Flour (no exact amount you'll see why later)

Parsley 

Salt

 Step 1:

fill up a large stock pot with water and place the chicken in.

make sure that the chicken is pretty much covered with water.

Bring it to a boil then drop it down to a simmer and let it sit with a lid on .

It took maybe 1.5- 2hours for my chicken to be done.

The legs will literally be falling off and the skin will come off easily.

When your chicken is done take it out and let it cool.

Step 2: 

Once the chicken has cooled start ripping the meat of the bone.

If you are a vegetarian the next picture may frighten you.

Your chicken will end up looking kind of like this. This was maybe 1/2 way through the process.

(I forgot to mention... the water you boiled your chicken in has now become your broth...so please don't toss it out!)

Step 3:

Chop up your veggies and add 'em in!

Step 4:

As for the celery and onions...

sauté them in some butter before adding them into the mix.

Why?

I'm not sure... my mom told me too.

But it did add some yummy buttery flavor to the pot!

Next come the "noodles" or as my mom calls them..

rivlets.

Step 5:

Take your eggs and beat them with a fork. Add in some salt and parsley and stir it all together.

Step 6:

Now you'll want to start adding in flour.

Keep mixing until the batter is quite thick. As in it takes like 3 minutes for a glop of it to fall off the fork :)

Ok... maybe not that thick. But it definitely should NOT be runny.

Just waiting for the Rivlets to arrive

Step 7:

Put your rivlet batter into a strainer (yes, it's weird. just do it. my mom said so.)

And start smashing it through.

You want little tiny dumplings in your soup, not great big ones.

Or maybe you do want great big ones... but for the purpose of this post, you want tiny ones.

I guarantee that your arms will start to hurt from holding the strainer and trying to smash the rivlet batter through the tiny holes.

I also guarantee that you will then make your husband do it while you steal the camera and get some awesome shots of the rivlets.

And this goes without saying... but all that work will have totally been worth it when this batch of soup feeds you, your husband, and friends for the next couple of days.

Super Easy. Super Delicious.

Enjoy!